Juan P. Alvez | Pasture Technical Coordinator, Center for Sustainable Agriculture – UVM Extension Livestock animals can bear cold weather. But even if we want to extend the grazing season, keeping our animals outside, as much as possible, there are some kinds of cold weather that we must pay very careful attention to. When it comes to […]
Grazing sequentially vs. pasture skipping
Juan P. Alvez | Pasture Technical Coordinator, Center for Sustainable Agriculture – UVM Extension For many livestock farmers, grazing pastures and paddocks in a simple, sequential order may be tempting. It can be an uncomplicated way to keep track of where animals have been. It is admittedly easy to set up a large pasture […]
Life and soil minerals
Juan P. Alvez | Pasture Technical Coordinator, Center for Sustainable Agriculture – UVM Extension Since the onset of agriculture, successful farming has meant the extraction of minerals from soil as plants grow. A relatively small world population and a vast agricultural frontier made this seem a problem of minor consideration and until relatively recently, Planet […]
Batt-Latch: “Set it and forget it!”
Juan P. Alvez | Pasture Technical Coordinator, Center for Sustainable Agriculture – UVM Extension Being a farmer is simply one of the busiest human activities so, what grazing farmer wouldn’t benefit from an automatic gate opener? We recently learned about this useful device with the ability to automatically open gates. It is called a ‘Batt-Latch.’ […]
Developing Vermont’s Swine Industry
Great news to announce! The Pasture Program was a recent recipient of a Working Lands Enterprise Grant focused on support and expansion of profitable, environmentally beneficial and well-managed swine production. This partnership with NOFA-VT will work on creating greater connection between existing experienced and new swine producers at all sizes and stages of growth; offering […]
Tags: beef, Colby, Notterman, pasture, Snug Valley Farm, swine, Vermont, working lands
Pasture management: Rhizobia and Nitrogen
Juan P. Alvez | Pasture Technical Coordinator, Center for Sustainable Agriculture – UVM Extension Nitrogen is undisputedly, one of the most important macronutrients for plant growth, and a process invented by Haber-Bosh (Image 1) made it possible to produce nitrogen out of “thin air” and bag it to be applied in farm fields. Manufacturing fertilizer via […]
Pasture management: perennial or annual forages?
Juan P. Alvez | Pasture Technical Coordinator, Center for Sustainable Agriculture – UVM Extension One of the questions grazing farmers often ask are, what type of forages will grow well on their farms or, which will best suit their livestock? It’s probably no surprise that the simple answer is “lots of them!” as oppose to […]
Pasture Management: Extending the Grazing Season
By: Juan P. Alvez | Pasture Technical Coordinator UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture Farming requires mental and physical involvement in the complex management of the soil, plants, animals, people, equipment, weather and markets. While this complexity is constantly changing, problems can sometimes become opportunities. Then, anything livestock producers can do to keep animals rotationally grazing […]
Conference Celebrates, Connects Northeast Livestock Farmers
Given the latest snow storm, January seems like just yesterday. Sounds like a good time to share updates from the 18th Annual Vermont Grazing and Livestock Conference. Over 350 farmers, feeder dealers, technical assistance providers, and environmental managers attended the two-day event held at Lake Morey Resort. Workshops and events included live animal demonstrations, […]
Nature is a Force to be Cooperated With, Not Controlled (or: Farming Practices in Sync with Natural Systems Will Always Keep You in the Green)
By Kimberly Hagen Grazing Specialist UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture What’s in a crisis? Almost always there is a lesson to be learned. The trick is to pay attention, or make the observation about what is going on and make the necessary changes to move forward in a positive way. It could mean some slow […]
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